Awakening - The Tigris Series Book 2

Chapter Six

The sun had barely begun to make it's presence known, turning the pitch black sky a deep, welcoming purple with blue hues in the heart of New Jersey. Colonel Phillips' men in training were up and ready as usual, beginning their morning with their daily 5 mile run. He was very proud of the project that he was put in charge of overseeing, and though he would never admit it, was very excited to see the end result.

He had been working with these men for a few weeks now, and it was finally the end of the school year for his one and only child. He was more than happy to bring her over to the camp to oversee their training for a couple weeks during her break; long enough for her to witness one of the greatest events in US history, and perhaps even the history of the world.

"Daddy, when will they be back from their run?" the 15 year old girl asked, dressed head to toe in her own army uniform that the Colonel had made specially for her smaller figure.

He looked out towards the field where they would soon be emerging from, standing tall and proud like he always did. "They should be back in. . . " he checked his watch. "About two minutes."

The girl looked up at him with a flash of surprise and wonder. "Wow, 5 miles in 45 minutes?"

The Colonel huffed out a chuckle, looking back out towards the field with his hands behind his back as he waited for the group of soldiers to emerge. "If it were up to me, I'd make those men cut another five minutes off of that time."

The girl giggled. "Daddy, 45 minutes is still pretty impressive."

The Colonel chuckled, looking down at his daughter with a glimmer of fondness. "After we're done with this program, Kara, all of this will look like child's play."

The soldiers finally emerged from the hill, in perfect blocked form with their Captain jogging beside them with a jeep trailing them as well. They were still singing their usual song as they jogged back towards the camp. The girl watched them closely, seeing how tired they were, though their stone-faced expressions would tell otherwise. Once everyone in that unit was in view, the girl couldn't help but notice what looked to be a smaller, shorter man trailing behind them as he tried to keep up. He was far skinnier and smaller than what she had ever seen a soldier be, and it confused her.

"Daddy, who's that trailing behind them?" she asked, pointing at the man who was still desperately trying to keep up.

The Colonel scoffed when he saw him, almost rolling his eyes at his disapproval of the man. "Just a boy who thinks he can be a soldier. He won't last. Don't pay attention to him, you hear?"

The girl nodded, but couldn't help but keep her eyes glued to the poor, frail man. As the unit got closer and closer, she could make out little tuffs of blonde hair barely escaping his helmet, of which looked to be far too big for his head due to how small he was. His blue eyes met hers for only a moment; she could see that he was completely and utterly exhausted, but the sheer determination that flooded his gaze was something that she had never seen before.

Despite what her father told her, she was definitely going to keep an eye on him.

•••

April 21st, 2014

I sprinted as fast as my feet would go, running through crowds as a means of trying to disappear for only a split second before turning into an alleyway. I jumped up on the side of the building on my left, pushing off of it with my foot towards the side of the neighboring building as a way to climb up without my claws. With the aid of my super strength, I managed to get one final push-off back to the building on the left, gripping the edge of the roof tightly in my hands. I smelt the scent of the Soldier's gun, and I quickly flipped myself onto the roof just as a bullet was shot. I moved just in time, and sprinted across the rooftops.